Pontoon nose buffer



oct. 15, 1929. L, HAASE 1,731,492

PONTOON NOSE BUFFER Filed Jan. 26. 1928 Snom/tto@ 007s hAASE Patented oct. 15, 1929 .UNITED s'r.\."rrsA PATENT OFFICE .'LOUISA HAASE, OF'MANHASSET, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO FAIRCHILD A'IRPLANEy MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, OF FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK PONTOON NOSE BUFFER Applicationled January 26, 1928. Serial No. 249,606.

`difficult to finish off the nose in good streamline form.

It is an object of this inventlon to provide `a nose section which is readily detachable and interchangeable and which completes the streamline 'of .the nose of the object to A which it is attached and also serves as a resilient buffer.

Another object of this invention is-to provide a nose buffer which is durable in construction, e'icient in operation, and cheap of manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a nose buffer in which the bufing action of resilient material and springs is combined.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from tli'e following specification, claims and appended drawings in Whichr- Y Fig. 1 is a view showing my improved buffer attached to a seaplane pontoon.

Fig. 2 is a section view of my buffer in place on a seaplane pontoon. p

Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of a seaplane pontoon constructed to recelve the buffer of my invention. o Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the construction and method ofattaching the nose buffer.

Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof the nose buffer partly from the rear.

Referring to the drawings,'.I have illus; trated the nose buffer of my invention applied to a seaplaneloat but I do not desire to limit myself to this construction as the nose buffer isequally applicable to flyingboats and Aother marine crafts such as hydroplanes and various sizes of other power crafts. The main feature of this invention is to provide an eiicient de.

tachable nose buHer which will complete 'the streamline of the vfront of the object to which it is attached.

As shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, the nose buffer is provided with a baseboard 1. 4O n this baseboard 1 and extending outwardly from the front side thereof is a quantity of kapok,

cork, sponge rubber, felt or other suitable material held in place as shown in Figs.v 2 and 4 by a covering 2. This covering may be made of linen, canvas, netting, straps, or in any other suitable manner and is secured in place r by lapping over the sides of the baseboard 1 and is tacked to the back thereof. On top of this covering 2v is another layer of material similar to that within the covering 2 and held in place by a covering 3 similar to covering 2 and secured to the baseboard 1 in a manner similar to that by which the covering 2 is attached. Upon this covering 3 another layer lof resilient material is positioned and held in place by a suitable covering 4 secured to the baseboard 1 in a manner similar: to that employed with the coverings 2 and 3. The

covering 4 forms an outer covering of the Y buffer and may be formed of canvas, rawhide,

or other suitable material. If desired inflated bags may be used in plac of anyor alltlie resilient materials above named. The bumper maybe formed to conform with and complete the streamline of the body to which it is attached by any suitable methf od. In practice I have found that the resilient material may be readily brought to proper shape in moulds or by cross tacking with cords, etc. The outer covering materesilient material in this sha e. In practice I have found it desirable to orm each layer butI do not.desire tolimit myself `in this respect as I am aware that if desired it may be brought to proper shape by forming only p part of the layers, for instance the outer layers. The streamline of the buffer is, of course, designed to conform and to complete the streamline of the body to which thebuifer is attached. I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to limit myself in any way in respect to the resilient material employed, nor do I wish to limit myself to the use of '85 rial may be formed in suitably shaped dies to produce the `streamline form and hold the a single resilient material since it is obvious that thevarious layers may be formed of different resilient materials or aplurality of different resilient materials may be combined in any single layeror in all layers.

lI further wish itto be understood that the buer may be formed with a single layer of resilient material if desired.

The nose buffer of this invention may be attached to the nose of the float for which it is designed in a great many ways. In practice, I have found the` method illustrated in the drawings to be not only eilicient but simple in connection with seaplane pontoons. In the drawings I have illustrated the buffer as attached to the nose of a pontoon of the metal type in which a wood frame is employed and a surface of metal. In Fig. 1, I have designated the metal surface generally by the numeral 8. The pontoon proper as shown in Fig. 3, ends abruptly with a nose bulk head 9, thus producing a strong` and rigid end which is cheap of manufacture and rugged in construction.

In the drawings the plates of the lower surface of the pontoon are shown extending slightly forward of the nose bulk head 9 thus forming a substantially Vshaped ledge at the front of the bulk head 9.l Across the arcuate top of the bulk head 9 an overlap strip 10 is provided extending a short distance in front of the bulk head and forming together with the overhang of thel bottom plate, a recess in which the base of the nose buffer is adapted to snugly fit. I do not wish to limit lmyself to this construction as the overhang may be omitted if desired. I

also do not wish to limit myself to a lat bulkhead as it is obvious that the bulkhead may be of any desired shape. In practice it has been .found desirable in many cases to slope the bulk head backward at'either side of the center line of the,pontoon. In this case they buffer will, of course, protect the sides of the nose to a much greater extent. The pontoon nose may if deslred even be closed by a reentrant bulk head thus facilitating attachment of the bulkhead and at the same time providing a greater thickness of buffer. The

buer isshown secured to the pontoon with the baseboard 1 lying against the bulk head 9 by a plurality of screws 9 extending from the inside of the bulk head 9 thru the frame members S of the pontoon and into the baseboard 1 of the buffer. I am fully aware that the nose buffer. might well be attached in other manners, for instance, by bolting the same to the front of the bulk head 9. This method lends itself admirably to the small hydroaeroplanes and ioats in which wood construction is used. The buffer may if desired be permanently attached to the pontoon.

If desired, a spring 11 or a plurality of springs may be Aincorporated in the inner layerof resilient material as shown in Fig. 2. When springs are employed I lind it advisable to provide a patch 12 of suitable material between the spring and the linen covering 2. It is, of course, advisable to. furnish suitable attaching means 13 between the springs 11 and the baseboard 1.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the bui'er of this invention provides an eliioient means for finishing the nose of pont0ons, flying boats, and the like in streamline form and at the same time providing a dependable .bunder which'is quickly detached and replaced.` The replaceable feature of the bu'ers is very important as it permits the replacement of a damaged buHer with a new one without even removing the craft from the water. This results in a great saving of time and expense and keeps the craft in operation whereas with the construction now commonly used, a repair would vconsume a great deal of time and money and keep the craft out' of service for a considerable period.

Various changesv in the construction of the embodiment illustrated in the drawings may be made without departing from the 'spirit of the invention, and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to the specifiofconstruction shown and described but to interpret the invention broadly within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination in a body having a streamline end of a detachable resilient buffer member forming the outer part of said end and completing the streamline in all exposed directions. 2. The combination with a body adapted to be propelled thru a fluid medium and having a substantially blunt forward end of a resilient buffer member detachably secured to said forward end and completing the streamlines of said body in all directions.l

3. In a buffer member of the class described, a base member, a resilient device secured to said base member and projecting outwardly therefrom, a resilient material secured to said base member and projecting outwardly therefrom adjacent said resilient device, and a covering secured lto said base member and enclosing said resilient material and device and giving thereto a streamline shape.

4. In a nose buffer of the class described, a base member, a plurality of layers of resilient material secured to said base member and positioned and arranged to a streamline form, and a covering shaped to the same streamline form enclosing said layers and secured to said base member. l

5. The combination in a flotation means for aircraft a resilient end buffer detachably secured to and forming a part of said flotalrien means and completing the aerofiynemf;

streamines thereof.

6. The combination in e seapane ponteen having :i substantially streamline form 01" u, detachable nose buffer secron for absorbing shock and completing the streamline of the pontoon nose.

'Z'. The comnination in a Hor-ation bod heving :i substantially streamline form o a, detachable resilient nose buffer 'section for absorbing shocks and. comple-ing the nose streainines cif the boly.

8. iin en aircraft otation means, a. nose bulkhead, ai nose bui'er section inclucing e `ibase adapted to bevsecure te the nose bulkhezid, e, resilient means secured ce saidbase, sind a cover secured to said base enclosing said resilient means and formed to Complete 'the streamline of the nose of the flotation means,

1in testimony whereof ii ax my signature.,

' LOUIS HAASE 

